Syria

Demographics

Estimated Total Population:

16.9 million

World Bank, 2018

Estimated SGM Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated Total SGM Adult Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated % of SGM Adults (18+):

N/A

N/A

Since 1949, Syria’s laws state any non-heterosexual intercourse shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of up to three years (Pride Legal). In Syria there have been reports of stoning and executions of gender and sexual minority members conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Pride Legal). The ongoing Syrian Civil War since 2011 explains the lack of publications or statistics of SGM populations. The sexual and gender minority population faces threat from both the current regime, but also the large Islamist presence which deems homosexuality unacceptable and punishable (Refugee Legal Aid Information).

Syria's Laws and Policies from ILGA World Report (2019)

RECOGNITION
Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
No
Civil Unions
No
Joint Adoption
No
Second Parent Adoption
No
PROTECTION
Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
No
Broad Protections
No
Criminalization of Violence
No
Ban of Conversion Therapy
No
CRIMINALIZATION
Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
No
Gender
Any Gender
Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
3

Selected Published Studies, Reports, and Other Documents

AFP. "ISIS stones 2 'gay men' to death in Syria: observer" Alarabiya, 2014. https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/11/25/ISIS-stones-2-gay-men-to-death-in-Syria-observer-.html

Gessen, Masha. “The L.G.B.T. Refugees in Turkey Who Refuse to Be Forgotten.”TheNewYorker, 2018, New York. https://www-newyorker-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/news/our-columnists/the-lgbt-refugees-in-turkey-who-refuse-to-be-forgotten. Accessed on February 10, 2019.

Lehtolaakso, Heidi. “Power and legitimacy through violence: What is the rationality of power in ISIS’s persecution of the LGBTQ minority?” University of Helsinki, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Political and Economic Studies. 2018 https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/236832

“Syria crisis: What is it like to be a gay refugee?” BBCNews, 2014, Beirut, Lebanon. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-29789498/syria-crisis-what-is-it-like-to-be-a-gay-refugee. Accessed on February 26, 2019.

Talmazan, Yuliya. Cheikh Omar, Ammar. “LGBTQ Syrian refugees forced to choose between their families and identity” NBC News, Oct. 6 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/lgbtq-syrian-refugees-forced-chose-between-their-families-identity-n1062446

West, Nicola. "Syrian Arab Republic LGBTI Resources" Refugee Legal Aid Information, http://www.refugeelegalaidinformation.org/syria-lgbti-resources